Getting the right amount of fertilizer to potted plants is not an exact science. On a commercial level, such as for commercial greenhouses, fertilizing potted plants is often a timely and tedious task. Adding soluble fertilizer to water and then watering the plants is an imprecise science in that over-watering or under-watering can result in improperly fertilizer allocation. Further, fertilizing by means of water needs to reoccur at short time intervals because the fertilizer is already completely dissolved in the water when it is applied such that it is fast release method rather than a slow release method. Spreading fertilizer on top of the soil is not a desirable solution as measuring precise fertilizer amounts is difficult and imprecise allocation is still a problem. Further, over-watering can sometimes wash away granular fertilizer material.
While fertilizer spikes and spike insertion tools are known, such as those disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,903,815, 3,232,007, 2,380,721, and 3,290,821, prior methods and apparatus for installing fertilizer spikes into the soil have typically been too complicated, time consuming, and/or cost prohibitive.